So, What's Our Story?  

Welcome to the story of Red & Rugged and how our artisan business began.

From a young age, we have both been hard-working individuals, doing what it takes to create opportunities and deliver a quality experience.

As the “Red” in this duo, I began delivering newspapers in sixth grade, having no idea it was the start of a long connection to content. “Rugged” began mowing lawns and shoveling snow in Pennsylvania, just a few miles from me, although we didn’t know each other back then. We were both serving customers as teenagers when you could still go door to door and work for your neighbors.

I started writing in notebooks and exchanging them with friends as we documented our challenges and triumphs growing up. I kept notebooks close at hand writing poems and random ideas. This creative passion remained a constant, kept under the surface for decades. In business, I took the expected, traditional corporate route, and was promoted from sales to business development to management until the late ‘90s when I made the life-changing transition to a strategic-backed start-up. I quickly learned how much I loved an entrepreneurial community. I launched my own start-up to write about entrepreneurs, then added events and launched a magazine – all things that I had never done before. I was recruited by venture capital groups to assist young companies en route to acquisition and have led state programs launching and managing the investment of funds into university-based start-ups. These were valuable learning experiences and opportunities that opened the door to national recognition.

Rugged followed an accomplished corporate path for 40 years as a senior field engineer with his amazing aptitude for technical details, learning on the fly, working with his hands, and stellar customer service. We are excited to say he is now retired from that role- earlier than planned! He continues to hone and expand his craftsmanship skills as more requests for custom projects appear.

In our early years together, we began to travel, attend art shows, visit main streets, explore cities, and meet artisans around the country. Our artisan network grew, as did our interest in spending more time in this creative space.

After decades in traditional roles, we both began craving a more creative experience, a chance to put our passions on the front burner instead of ignoring them or, at best, pushing them off to the side. In 2017, we launched Red & Rugged.

You’ll find our love of unique textures in ceramic finishes, rich wood grain pieces, and luxurious handwoven elements in our home. And that’s precisely what you’ll find in our artisan gift experience. We are proud to work with Fortune 1000 executives, global hospitality professionals, and boutique business owners to deliver an unforgettable artisan gift experience.

We invite you to explore our website, connect with us, and subscribe to our email below. Transform your gift-giving and celebrate life in unabashed artisan style. Welcome!